


Miscellany

by BladedFeather



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky Barnes-centric, Captain America: The Winter Soldier Post-Credit Scene, F/M, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, extended museum scene, first chapter is
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-24
Updated: 2016-07-24
Packaged: 2018-07-26 10:06:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7569985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BladedFeather/pseuds/BladedFeather
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of ficlets all based somewhere in the MCU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Ties That Bind

**Author's Note:**

> I really just needed a place for all of the little snippets I've written that didn't quite fit anywhere else. So this happened.  
> This first chapter? Shameless self-indulgence.  
> I'm always lowkey bitter that it's always little boys who recognize superheros.  
> I fixed it.

The museum was more crowded than he had hoped, but.

He had to be sure.

The Soldier? Or if the sign was correct (and it felt overwhelmingly like it was) Bucky, stares around at pictures of his own face with a violent and horrible feeling of disconnect.

It all feels like too much.

Looking at himself, smiling broadly, shoulder to shoulder with Steve.

Everywhere Bucky looks is a picture of Steve, and it sends sharp pains to his head, and a wave of nausea as he is reminded of every single wound he left on the other man.

The memories are patchy, but more come every night.

Bucky can't go back to Steve, not yet, maybe not ever.

Not until Bucky knows that it, that _he_ , is safe.

It doesn't stop the wave of homesickness and decades old fear from washing over him.

Bucky can barely check his surrounding before he lurches into an empty corner of the exhibit, holding the wall and breathing hard.

He doesn't realize he's removed his hat and is clutching a hand to his head tightly until he hears a tiny voice.

"Do you need a hair thingy?"

Every muscle in Bucky's body tenses, and he turns away from the wall slowly, shoving his hands in his pockets forcefully.

The little girl in front of him can be no older than six, with dark olive skin and the biggest brown eyes. 

She's holding out a bright pink elastic hair band, swaying back and forth in a purple dress.

A moment passes and apparently she assumes he didn't hear her, shaking her hand, and the hair band, at him insistently, "It'll help keep your hair out of your eyes so you don't trip!" She chirps, and Bucky very slowly, and so very delicately, takes it from her with his flesh and blood hand.

They stare at each other for a minute before the little girl smiles brightly, and reaches behind her own head, her rich brown hair falling in tight curls against her shoulders.

"Watch! I'll show you. Mommy taught me."

Before Bucky can do anything, her little face creases in concentration and with a few tries she manages to tame her hair into a pony tail. After it's done she does a little spin as if to prove that it's secure.

"You try!"

It's absurd, but there is adrenaline spiking through Bucky's system and he is quite literally trapped in a corner. 

By a six year old.

With no other alternative (that he's willing to consider), Bucky puts the band on his wrist like she had painstakingly showed him, and then dutifully put his hair up, although instead of leaving it in a ponytail he twists it in a bun like he'd seen several other men with on his way to the exhibit.

The little girl claps her hands excitedly, "You look so pretty!"

A soft smile manages to make it's way onto Bucky's face, and he slips his hat back on.

"Thank you."

And then he's slipping into a tour group that wanders past.

*

No one can see the man hiding behind a pillar, keeping an eye on a little girl with a bright green hair band on her wrist, as security helps her find her parents.

The ghost only slips away once she is safety in her parent's arms, smiling brightly.

He doesn't hear the way she talks a mile a minute, smile almost too big for her face,

"I swear, I saw Bucky! Just like in the pictures!"

Her mothers nod their heads at her, acquiescing to their daughter's overactive imagination with indulgent and relieved smiles.


	2. Silence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was a Tumblr post I saw the other day, that I will eventually track down, that basically asked the question,  
> "What did SHIELD hear with the bugs in Steve's old apartment???"  
> I of course took the saddest route possible.  
> Here is the result.

"Well, would you look at this!"

None of the gathered Avengers even look up from what they're doing.

Tony pouted.

He had been slaving over the information dump from the SHIELD/HYDRA fiasco. 

There were a lot of reasons why, but mostly it was just because Tony really didn't like not knowing things.

Thor was obviously the best, because he eventually does look up from the book he's reading, staring questioningly at him.

Natasha just rolled her eyes from where she was haphazardly sprawled over Barton. 

Who was sleeping.

Pepper was sending him concerned looks as Bruce just pretended he hadn't heard him.

"Fine, since you're all _so_ interested, I'll share."

More silence.

Tony needed new super friends. 

"I have the recordings from Cap's old apartment."

They were audio _and_ visual recordings.

Because SHIELD was creepy like that.

This time everyone looked up.

"Are you sure you should-" Bruce started, but Tony waved him off distractedly, setting it so the recordings played on the common floors massive TV.

"Calm down, I'm sure Cap can handle us seeing him dance in his underwear."

Bruce still looked upset but simply shook his head, leaving the room.

Natasha was glaring, but made no move to get up.

It turned out, that Cap had lead an incredibly boring life in his old apartment.

Incredibly. Boring.

The man had a routine and stuck to it like his life depended on it. 

After about ten minutes Tony was throwing his hands up about to huff in annoyance before something shifted.

The feed was from sometime in March.

Natasha suddenly sat up, earning a wheeze from Barton as she crushed some of his internal organs.

"Tony. Turn it off."

Tony rolled his head on the couch until he could see her.

"C'mon, what could be so bad? Literally nothing has happened so far." 

Natasha's lips thinned, but she said nothing else.

In the feed Cap didn't wake up at his usual and ridiculous 5:00am, instead he curled tight into his bed, briefly picking up his phone to text what looked like Wilson.

Tony was still slightly amazed he knew how to text.

It just got weirder from there, and Tony vaguely felt a sense of unease crawling up his spine.

As the hours on the feed ticked away Cap moved very very little, staring at the wall across from him in silence.

Finally, around 7:40pm, he did move.

To be exact, he rolled over in bed, grabbed the pillow nearest to him, and.

Tony frantically told JARVIS to cut the feed.

The shame was burning hot in his chest, and he couldn't bring himself to look at the rest of the Avengers.

Tony wasn't so much of an asshole that he didn't know that things like that were private.

Still, Tony couldn't shake the shock of seeing their fearless leader so...vulnerable.

Curled up on himself, clutching a pillow to his chest and.

Silently crying.

The stillness in the room was oppressive, but it got worse when a voice spoke up.

"It was my birthday."

And of course, it was Bucky who stepped out of the kitchen, a lost look in his eyes.

The room managed to get quieter.

Tony swallowed hard and quickly deleted his copy of the file, and then set JARVIS on pulling it from the web as well.


End file.
